TICKETS FOR TEST

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1025, 16 July 1930, Page 12

TICKETS FOR TEST

AUXILIARY STAND SOLD QUICKLY r 1,000 IN TWENTY MINUTES ‘ Twenty minutes after the booking office at Mr. J. H. Watts’s sports depot in Exchange Lane been opened this morning the auxiliary stand for the third test at Eden Park had been sold out. Approximately 1,000 tickets were sold. The Queue commenced to form oj: jMonday morning: following: the issue c>f chits to those in the queue for *«ats in the main stand. Several returned soldiers who had been in the Queue since Sunday afternooti decided to wait and obtain seats in the auxiliary stand. Some of them spent three nights in the open, and some had stayed in the queue as long as 35 hours eh a stretch. Mr. E. H. Sharp, secretary of Vho Returned Soldiers’ Association, said that about 34 returned men waited in the queue to obtain tickets. Many of their patrons had ordered £ 1 tickets in the main stand, but when they were unable to obtain them they expressed their willingness to take 10s seats for which they would pay 15s, so that each returned man would get a return of -LI 10s for three nights’ waiting ou! in the open without shelter. Definite orders had been received for the seats pnrt there was no question of speculation on the part of the returned men. £4 A TICKET

Although each person was entitled j tu purchase seats up to the number ot I six it was surprising the number of people who waited long hours in the queue for two seats. A woman was emong those who waited all night for two seats when she could very easily liave secured four more either to sell to her friends or retail out at a satisfactory profit. Indications are not wanting that « considerable number of seats have been secured for speculative purposes. J Enterprising persons have been known to have secured their quota of six for the main stand and others have also secured them for the auxili’l'.v stand at an outlay of £(j and £3 respectively. Although prices ranging up to £4 apiece have been mentioned, holders, for the most part, are holding off until the demand sharpens. Holders are anticipating good business in city hotels when the country people arrive for the big game. During their wait in the queue, the T( turned soldiers were provided with meals as the result of an arrangement made by the Returned Soldiers* Association. Through the association. t-< veral people also provided the men with cigarettes and tobacco: Appreciation of the action of the< 3lugby Union in providing tickets for the disabled soldiers at the Evelyn Firth Home and in issuing chits tc «*rlier disabled men who would be un- : ble to take their place in a queue « r make their way through a crowd was expressed this morning by Mr. fr'harp This action, he said, was appreciated by the returned GROUND ARRANGEMENTS AUXILIARY STAND NEARING COMPLETION ENLARGED EXITS The erection of the aux- 'ary grandstand at the Edendale end of the main ground at Eden Park is proceeding rapidly. The stand is a strongly-built structure, and it is hoped that it will carry some 1.100 people. To facilitate the selling of tickets and avoid congestion at the gates the Kugby Union has provided ticketboxes along the roadside for some distance front the gates. Ticket-boxes have even been provided as far up as the rail-nay footbridge for the convenience of those entering by the Edendale gates, and similar provision has been made at the Dominion Road end. The necessity of providing ample exits so as to facilitate the emptying of the ground has not been overlooked. At the Dominion Road end the fence has been erected in sections, and it will be a simple matter for a gang of men to lift several of these out just before t.’i,e game ends, thus providing almtn treble the present gate space. Although screens are being erected against a portion of the fence at the back of the terrace it will be a difficult matter to block out completely the view obtained from the row of houses overlooking the ground. Full advantage of these unofficial stands will no doubt be taken by the occupants and their friends. £Those residents with fully developed commercial instincts will no doubt turn the opportunity to advantage. At a meeting of the Retail Trades Committee of the Auckland Provincial Employers' Association yesterday, it was decided that'the shops in the city will clcse at the usual hour on Saturday and on Saturday week. It was recommended, however, that employers, as far as possible, should make arrangements with members of their staffs wishing to see the matches to leave work a little earlier than usual.